2018 General Meeting Highlights

The 2018 General Meeting was held on Saturday, August 18th, 2018 at the Laramie County Library in Cheyenne, WY. Along with the Board and regional leaders, several veterans and volunteers were present.
In general, the meeting focused on year-to-date information regarding budget, trips, and regional activities as well as plans for the rest of the year and beginning of 2019.

Treasurer Larry Neasloney provided a detailed budget report. Platte Rivers Veterans Fly Fishing continues to be a solvent organization. There will be a number of expenses as 2018 comes to an end, in preparation for 2019 activities, so a continued focus on fundraising will be important. Prompted by a question from a guest, President Joe O’Connor spent some time describing Platte Rivers’ extensive insurance policies, which covers all of the activities the organization undertakes.

A new Trip Standard of Operation document was disseminated and discussed. After some discussion, the new standards were adopted by the Board. These standards can be found here.

President Joe O’Connor announced that three (3) new board positions will be created. This will increase the number of Board positions to nine (9). These seats will be at-large positions filled by people from both Colorado and Wyoming. Applications were made available for those in attendance. The election to fill these positions will be held at the October 9th board meeting. Anyone interested in running for one of these newly created board seats should reach out to Joe O’Connor.

Trip Coordinator Duane Cook provided a report of trips that have occurred thus far in 2018 as well as statistics for trips planned for the rest of the year. At the end of this season, there will have been twenty-one (21) multi-day trips with an average seven (7) participants per trip. Multi-day trips will have provided fishing opportunities for at least 147 participants by the end of this year. Single day trips have been extremely successful so far this year and will continue that way. There have been, or will be, a total of 518 participants on single day trips in 2018. All total, 2018 will provide 665 participant with fishing opportunities. Jim Kuhns provided a report about the Reeder Creek Ranch trip which is located on a special portion of the headwaters of the Colorado River near Kremmling, CO. Dave Morse provided a trip report on a newly added property called Beaver Reservoir.

President Joe O’Connor announced a unique trip being planned for 2019. The Honor Float will be similar to the famed Honor Flight that provides World War II veterans an opportunity to visit Washington, D.C. in a first class fashion. Similarly, the Honor Flight will provide veterans with a first class fly fishing trip. In 2019, 20-22 Korea and Vietnam combat veterans will be treated to a five-star float trip on the San Juan River in New Mexico. In 2020, combat veterans from the Gulf War to 9-11 will be invited. Then, in 2021, combat veterans post 9-11 will be honored on this trip. Five-star accommodations will be provided by Soaring Eagle Lodge on the banks of the San Juan River. A separate fundraising initiative will be launched for this event with an estimated goal of $25,000.

Board Member Dale Blakely provided information about partnerships with Wyoming Game and Fish. Platte Rivers has donated $1,000 that will be used to build a handicap accessible fishing dock at Lower North Crow Reservoir in the John and Annie Woodhouse Recreation and Wildlife Habitat Area. Lower North Crow Reservoir is located approximately 25 minutes west of Cheyenne.

The 2019 Banquet Committee Chair, Karen Nagel, provided information about the 2019 Fundraising Banquet. The Banquet is scheduled for March 30, 2019 at Little America Hotel & Resort in Cheyenne, WY. Discount on rooms for attendees will be available. Karen is currently assembling volunteer teams to begin all planning activities. The first banquet committee meeting will be held on Thursday, September 6th. Karen provided event posters. If you took event posters, please wait until after September 1st to hang them.

Published by

Ken McCoy

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When registering for multiday trips, please limit yourself to three choices. This will insure there are enough trip opportunities for everyone. You should prioritize you “wish list” by using “A” as your first choice, “B” as your second choice and “C” as your third choice. Please list in the comments section any qualifying personal circumstances: leave/vacation time availability and physical capabilities/concerns.

We will attempt to match each person with the trip(s) you have chosen, but this is not guaranteed. We will also have an alternate list for those not originally chosen, because life happens.

When considering registering for a trip, please keep a few things in mind;

The length of travel, and duration of the trip.

Elevation and terrain. We have several trips that require fishing at elevations above 9.000 ft. and mountain passes above 12,000 feet on the way there & back.

The amount of time on the water each day. Some trips will require you to be actively on the water for 6 – 10 hours a day. There is the opportunity to take a few minutes & recover, but transportation back to the lodging area may not be a possibility.

Is your fishing ability up to the water you will be fishing?

The trip Coordinators and the trip selection committee will discuss any and all concerns with you to make sure you have the best experience possible.

Life happens, but when you are selected for a trip, please take every effort to ensure that you make that trip. It is difficult and sometimes impossible to fill a vacated spot at the last minute. We owe it to our hosts that we have a full qualified contingent of participants that will enjoy the experience.

The Trip Selection Committee will consist of the Trip Coordinators -Micah foster and Duane Cook, Joe, O’Connor – BOD President, Jack Osman – Platte Rivers Program Lead, Randy Sindelir and the Trip Lead for each trip.